LOWER LAKE — Lower Lake spent nearly the entire game playing defense and the North Central League I-leading Cloverdale Eagles gradually wore down the Trojans while posting a 7-0 boys soccer victory Thursday afternoon at Gordon Sadler Field.

Dalton Partridge, the Trojans' keeper, must have felt like a piñata at times as the Eagles, now 9-0 in league play and 10-1-1 overall, launched shot after shot against him despite the best efforts of his teammates to give him a break from the siege.

Lower Lake's Allen Calderon (10) disrupts an attempted shot on goal by Cloverdale. (Brian Sumpter/Record-Bee)

"I know the score was 7-0, but Dalton intercepted a lot of shots," Lower Lake head coach Michael McMurtrey said.

"They've very fast and their operation is good," McMurtrey said of the Eagles.

Hustle wasn't so much the Trojans' problem as intensity, according to McMurtrey.

"We didn't have any in the second half," he said. "We fizzled out."

Lower Lake hung tough with Cloverdale for a half. In fact, it was a 1-0 game until the 39th minute when the Eagles punched one past Partridge for a 2-0 halftime lead.

Lower Lake's Diego Quiroz (8) steals the ball from a Cloverdale player as teammate Ricardo Perez follows the action.

Things quickly got away from the Trojans in the second half and McMurtrey went to his bench.

"My second-string guys did a pretty good job," he said.

Lower Lake entered the game minus two starters. Adrian Saenz was serving a one-game suspension after picking up a red card in the Trojans'3-2 win over Kelseyville on Tuesday, and forward Diego Orozco was absent because of a prior commitment.

"We really felt our missing players," McMurtrey said.

Lower Lake's Jose Garibay (15) and Braian Perez hustle after the ball on a Cloverdale fast break down the field.

Lower Lake had only a few shots on goal. One did make it into the net late in the second half only to be waved off for an offsides infraction.

"They all hustled out there, we just couldn't get it going," McMurtrey said of the Trojans.

Lower Lake, 2-7-1 in the league standings, hits the road Tuesday to play Willits at 5:30 p.m.

"Hopefully we can squeeze out a couple more (wins) this season," McMurtrey said.

In other boys soccer action Thursday:

St. Helena 6, Clear Lake 1

At St. Helena, playing on the fast track that is the St. Helena High School artificial turf field didn't turn out to be much of a problem for the Clear Lake Cardinals. The Saints were the real issue.

St. Helena improved to 7-1 in the NCL I standings and 10-1 overall with a victory over a co-ed Clear Lake squad that stayed close to the Saints in the first half. In fact, a goal by Raul Reyes, assisted by Orel Gosman, pulled the Cardinals into a 1-1 tie.

"We were able to hold them off a little," Clear Lake co-head coach Kevin O'Brien said. "The first 30-35 minutes we were hanging with them."

A defensive miscue allowed St. Helena to push in front to stay at 2-1 late in the first half. A few minutes later the Saints headed in a loose ball in the box to go up 3-1, the halftime score.

"They scored three fairly quick goals in the second half," O'Brien said of the Saints.

The artificial turf helped more than hindered the Cardinals, who play their home matches on a natural grass field at Don Owens Stadium.

"Honestly I didn't think the turf hurt us as much as I was expecting it to," O'Brien said. "It helped us a lot more than I expected it to. We actually played very well on it. I just wish we could take back those 15-17 minutes in the middle of the game."
Added O'Brien, "Overall we played better than the score reflects. We're trending in the right direction."

Clear Lake plays a non-league game Friday in Upper Lake at 5:45 p.m. The Cardinals resume league play Monday at Fort Bragg.